Garianna: The Rebel That Lived
by Fratter Waan
Summary: Garianna G. Guy, one of Gary's ancestors, has made a subtle mark of great involvement in Hogwart's history. Hogwarts is attended by humans, not penguins, and this is the story why. Rated T for violence, blood, and minor romance.
1. Long Story Short

Garianna G. Guy.

Look me up. What do you see? It depends; If you are in the penguin's universe, you'd see a cutesy little penguin waving her sparkling wand in circles, smiling wide, but in the magic world, you'd see a long forgotten poster that marked me on the top ten most wanted wizards and witches in the Ministry of Magic. Why is there a huge difference, you might ask? I would say "Long story short" but that defense what what got me in big, big trouble in the first place, so let's go with the "long story". It's more understandable that way, I guess.

Everybody always says "It all started a long, long, long…time ago…", but I am not everybody, if you haven't noticed, so I'm starting were no proper story should ever start: at the end.

**Author's note: Don't worry, the chapters will eventually get longer.**


	2. The End

_Words._

_At first, all I see are words. Then I see through the beautifully arranged letters to see something the opposite of beautiful. A thousand souls look on me, their innocent eyes all asking one question as they fade away: "Why?"_

_They'll never know, because they can't. I saw a penguin standing alone in the middle of the forest, tears welling up. Her wand was out and a shaky flipper held it tight._

_Alone. All alone. Someone, or anyone could have-_


	3. Just Another Day

A sudden squeal jolted me from my thoughts. I looked up, thoroughly startled, and saw my little golden Puffle staring longingly at me, sparkle fluttering all around it.

"What do you think you're doing?" I snapped. Even though I hadn't fed Pi all day, I felt guiltless. He stole enough food already from the kitchens.

"Go play with the other Puffles. I'm doing Divination homework!" Sure enough, Pi giggled, sending golden flakes everywhere, then scurried away. I sat up in my four poster bed and readjusted my glasses. I looked back down at the small crystal ball I was borrowing from Professor Teltroth's class. Honestly, I wasn't too fond of Divination class, but the teacher told me I excelled at it and I should "Embrace this rare talent", or whatever Professor Teltroth said.

Inking my quill, I prepared to write in the blank next to the question "Describe what future event that you saw in the crystal ball," when I stopped. What I saw in the crystal ball seemed indescribably painful, and it was someone's future. Regardless, this would be delightful to Professor Teltroth, for he loved predicting death and doom to whoever may listen. I finally wrote:

_A penguin is standing alone in the forest and she's crying. Probably because she just killed someone._

I reread it. How could I dull it down like that? I disregarded the thought. At least I was now done with my homework before dinner! After dating it with Thursday the 12th of May, A.D.1032 or something, I hopped off my bed and carefully placed the crystal ball into a bag and carried it out of the Ravenclaw dormitory. I would stop at Professor Teltroth's class to drop off the crystal ball and go straight to dinner from there.


	4. Spring and Summer

It was spring again.

Snow storms became less frequent and the sun shone a bit longer each evening. Birds began twittering and the little Whomping Willow sapling seemed to grow an extra centimeter, extending its range of destruction. The whole school, however, seemed to ignore the entire nature-y livelihood, rather they were more consumed by the fact that exams were coming along side another dance. Wasn't it stressful enough already?

I never cared too much for dances. I spent every evening of any ball reading alone in the Ravenclaw dormitory, cuddled up with Pi next to the fire. Oh, the things I have learned while girls giggled and dressed up and boys shook in their boots, trying to ask their favorite maiden out. What pointless drama!

What I was looking forward to more was summer. Most students went home for the summer and a handful stayed at Hogwarts. I did neither. When Hogwarts thought I was at home doing normal muggle stuff, I actually ran away into the wilderness. I was certainly not welcome at my family for my father considered magic a dreadful thing, but I was always welcomed in the wild where I could explore and practice magic freely.


	5. Dragons

Sunlight poured through the tall windows. I must have been the only one awake that morning."Incendo" I murmured under my breath and the fireplace's ashes burst back into their dancing flames. Today was Saturday, so no school, but the library was closed until ten. I took my time, wandering the halls of Hogwarts a bit, careful not to get too lost, but how could I resist in a castle so grand and huge? The paintings seemed to have woken up only a few minutes ago, but they waved absently as I passed, except one that depicted a fat lady who stuck her nose in the air when I walked past and growled "Ravenclaw…" under her breath like it was the highest insult. Including the fat lady, all of the paintings seemed odd, like they didn't fit in, but they were paintings that walked and talked. How is that not odd?

When I reached the library doors, I saw they still weren't open. It wasn't even close to ten, rather it was seven o' clock. What would I do for three hours? Breakfast wasn't until eight and nobody else liked waking up earlier than that, except for a few.

Kaboodle seemed to have woken up an hour earlier than expected. The green penguin from Hufflepuff held himself awkwardly, always carrying a thousand books, which earned his nickname. His real name was Harold, but no one called him that.

Judging by the fact that his cloak was on backwards, he wasn't wearing his glasses, and he was panting, Kaboodle was in a hurry to find me.

"Garianna!" He gasped urgently. "T-th-there's been a-...(Wheeze)...Just get out of h-here!"

"Why?" I demanded, not ready to fall for another false alarm.

"A dragon!" Kaboodle spouted. Sure enough, the nearest window stopped streaming sunlight, only for a second. I rushed over to look out, even as Kaboodle stuttered protests. I squinted at the sunlight, but saw nothing out of the ordinary, until a distant rumble came from high above.

"Why are you telling me?" I asked rhetorically. "Quick! Get a teacher or someone."

He didn't protest this time. Kaboodle tripped on his own cape but scrambled to the nearest teacher's room. I paused, A quick look around confirmed my joy. I ran in the opposite direction. I knew I could get there faster than Kaboodle. Down the stairs, to the left, in a secret passageway, and in a whiz, I was outside in the crisp morning air. Immediately, I scanned the horizon, and to my expectation, she was there.

Penguins say dragons are evil, untamable, and destructive, and, partially, they are right. But one thing they forget is dragons are beautiful.

Liquid silvery wings stretched across its scaly, thin body. A tail twice as long as its body whipped around in the wind as the beast flew taunting circles around the school building, hissing and growling. Sparks threatened to overflow the rim of its beak-like snout, but it obviously refrained, waiting for the right moment.

I cared not about my safety or whether the dragon noticed me; all I cared about at that moment was drinking in the beautiful sight before it flew away.

Time seemed to slow when the beast glanced at me with its golden reptilian eye, but it quickly turned away when I heard a door a few meters away fling open and out ran a bearded penguin closely followed by nervous Kaboodle who pointed up at the dragon unnecessarily. Neither of the penguins noticed me, so I slowly backed away. The old penguin drew out his wand from his robes and pointed it at the snarling dragon. The silver beast landed gracefully, a puff of dust barely rustling off the grassy ground. It stomped closer to the pair, fangs bared and more angry sparks spilling out from between its fangs. The penguin, however, was unfazed and almost nonchalant as he swiped his wand to the side saying some spell. The effects were immediate. The dragon suddenly began shrinking until it was engulfed by the grass it used to over tower. The old wizard calmly reached down and picked it up. Even from a distance, I could tell the dragon had more puffle-like features: plump and round main body, big eyes, and clumps of furry fluff on its silver head. The thing reminded me of a silvery version of Pi, but with a spine, tail, and tiny flapping wings.

The little puffle dragon squirmed in his arms, snarling and nipping at his flipper. The wizard still didn't notice me, but he beckoned awe-stuck and open-mouthed Kaboodle to go back inside. When he turned, I recognized the face immediately; it was Godric Gryffindor.


	6. Without a Care in The World

"I told him to go get a teacher, not a headmaster," I recounted the event to the ever listening Pi, who was boredly watching the hands of the clock tick round.

"Why go get Professor Gryffindor? In my opinion, that's overkill." I followed Pi's gaze and found the time to be 10:26 a.m. I sighed.

"I'm bored" I concluded bluntly and flopped onto my four poster bed. Oddly, no professor assigned homework, and I discovered the librarian was sick (A bunch of annoying Slytherin Fifth years put something in her tea, and even the nurse could not figure out what magical prank could have caused the librarian's perpetual retching).

I don't have any real friends. From what penguins tell me, I am too "obsessed" with animals and the magic involving them to be liked. The closest thing I have to a friend is another Ravenclaw girl with whom I, somehow by some supernatural force, am always paired up with in school projects or labs. Cathy's not so bad, and I don't mind, but she doesn't offer anything that hints at a friendship outside of academic projects.

Finally, I decided on what to do. I pulled out my wand and nested it gently in my hand, looking closely at its elaborate design. I looked down at Pi and whispered, "Don't tell anyone where we're going and don't make peep!" With all interests regained, Pi jumped up and beamed back at me with a grin, for he knew what we were going to do. No one else was in the Ravenclaw homeroom because nearly everybody was at the big Quidditch showdown between Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw. I cared little for the sport not only because it was extremely dangerous, but it was also not the least bit educational.

I sneaked out of the room and closed the painting behind me, the living depiction of an old witch harrumphed, unhappy to be disturbed from her game of chess against another witch. Many a complaint was issued against that painting of a witch and rumors of a replacement were flying around. Quietly, Pi and I turned this way and that around the corridors of the school, careful not to disturb a teacher or any authority. Around one corner, we came across a corroded statue of a bird, maybe an eagle by the looks of it. I made sure no one was watching when I whispered "Black Diamond." The statue silently slid away to reveal a passageway. Pi suppressed a giggle of joy as we slipped inside, unnoticed.

I had discovered this passageway quite on accident, but who could have guessed that I was randomly saying "Black Diamonds" at the precise moment I was walking past the peculiar statue. What are the odds? Previous explorations found that at the end of the passageway was a huge room with a ceiling ten times my height, but if you kept going down the path, you'd end up right outside the owlery. Pi and I love to go down to the high ceiling room to play.

"Hmm…" I hummed, playfully letting my voice echo in the cave. "What should we do today?" I asked Pi. The golden puffle jumped up and down, smiling expectantly and squeaking.

"Okay, okay, sure, I'll do it again" I said, knowing exactly what he wanted me to do. I flicked my wand once and instantly, specks of gold sprouted from the ground as if drawn up magnetically. Pi jumped around, picking up the biggest nuggets and rolling around in the smaller ones like a cat to catnip. The last time I tried this metal attraction spell, it was more fruitful, but Pi seemed overjoyed nonetheless.

I was only getting started. I pointed my wand at a nearby rock and after a second, it sprouted little wings and tried fluttering away, flapping as hard as a hummingbird. We laughed, simply having fun. Next, I pointed my wand at another rock, and this one did a stubby somersault before standing still again. Concentrating hard, I pointed at another rock and this one fell to the ceiling as if the gravity changed. Fortunately, the spell wore off after a few minutes, but unfortunately, I happened to be under it. Thank goodness it wasn't too big, or else I would have a hard time explaining a big bruise and partial unconsciousness to the school nurse.

My puffle and I had some magical fun until we both felt a bit hungry. I swirled my wand around in the air and as I expected, I conjured a mystical clock that read 11:58 a.m.

I hurriedly whisked the image away and waved my wand around to make the flying rock and other magically modified objects (kind of) normal again, and ran out the passageway. It's not like one can be late for lunch, but other penguins would have worried if I was gone all day.


	7. The Matchmakers and The Magical

"Omi-gosh, omi-gosh, omi-gosh, I'm so excited!" Cathy was nearly bouncing off her seat. She was talking to the other girls at the Ravenclaw table during dinner later that week. I couldn't help but overhear. I didn't have anyone in particular to talk to at dinner, but I didn't care.

"The Summer Dance is _next week,_ and guess what?" Cathy continued, and I tuned in. The other girls on queue asked what.

"Kaboodle is going out with me!" She squealed and I tuned out, not interested in this love drama. The other girls seemed to fake congratulations for her (Kaboodle wasn't their choice of hot dates), but Cathy was too excited to care. I hastily scooped another helping of pudding onto my plate and nibbled at it. The gaggle continued to share who they were going with and how well their date danced, when something caught me totally off guard.

"Um, Garianna? Who are you going to the dance with?" A familiar voice inquired of me. Caught by my name and my name only, I looked up from the pudding to see Cathy smiling at me.

"What?" I asked, the pudding dribbling ungracefully down my beak.

"Um, I asked who you were going to the Summer Dance with," She said again, her tone of joy unfaltering around the genuinely confused gaggle.

"Oh, um…" I stuttered, totally unexpected. No one ever asked me a question, whether it was this one or a penguin asking to go to the dance with him. I couldn't believe it. Cathy never talked to me outside of class and always hung out with and talked to her "girlfriends". Maybe this was her opportunity to hint at friendship or social acceptance. Or maybe this was an evil girly tactic: if I told the truth, they'd laugh, or if I lied, they'd taunt me when they found out I wasn't at the dance at all.

I needed to stall. "I guess I, um...," I decided how to answer. "I actually don't want to go."

Cathy looked unsurprised, and the gaggle lost interest immediately. She leaned in a bit more and said something even more unexpected. "We can help you find someone!"

The gaggle's interest shot back towards me when they heard her words.

"Oh, well, um, I really-" I tittered.

"Oh, come on! We'll help you for free!" She cut in, smiling as if I had won two golden tickets to a Quidditch game.

"No, please. I seriously don't-"

"I don't care what it takes, we are finding you a boyfriend!" She wouldn't take no for an answer. I pushed aside my plate and I was ready to deny with all my might this match making stuff when all the food disappeared and all eyes turned from the empty plates to the front when Godric Gryffindor walked to the front of the room, carrying something in his flippers.

"Before you leave," boomed Gryffindor's voice, "We have a few things we would like to say." The crowd shuffled around, not at all interested in the last minute announcements.

"Whoever has let loose this...abomination, I will warn them not to free any more of Professor Summerleaf's academic subjects." Gryffindor held up a rock with tiny hummingbird wings on it and I winced. I hadn't realized one of them got away. I turned red, but said nothing, glad that it was dark. For a second, I wondered why it was dark and I chanced a look up. A few candles above me were flickering and dimming. No one else had noticed, so I looked back on Gryffindor.

Gryffindor stepped aside to sit down, wrestling the rock as he left, and Koph Black, the Defense Against The Dark Arts teacher, took his place at the front. He wore green and black robes and his pitch black hair was cut neatly and to the point. The pale penguin looked down on all the students and an unnatural coldness settled at the bottom of my stomach. The Slytherin table seemed to enjoy his presence but everyone else might not have been used to Black's aura, for he rarely came out in the light.

He hissed coolly, "Today, I have an announcement." The room fell dead silent. When Koph Black had an announcement, it was never good news.

"Recently, unusual magical occurrences have been flaring up, unusual dragon attacks or unicorn population boom for instance. This kind of magic disturbance has only occurred previously when the school was founded." He glanced at Gryffindor pointedly. "These disturbances are only occurring near Hogwarts, so one can be certain this has nothing to do with Durmstrang or any of the other magical schools on this continent. Of course, you must be asking yourselves and fellow trouble makers 'What does this have to do with me?'" The whispers that arose were quickly extinguished.

"I'll tell you." He continued, glaring at the house tables. "Restrictions will be made on leaving and entering the school grounds. Quidditch matches and practices will be supervised and all holiday leaves to muggle families are to be overseen," He twitched, obviously disapproving the fact that muggle-born wizards actually went to this school.

"Please be careful and report any penguin who attempts to waddle right into the forbidden forest," He cast a glare at two Hufflepuff students who high-fived under the table regardless of Black's disapproval.

"Study well, and have a good night. You are dismissed," he waved aside the students and went back to his seat. It wasn't until the professor was seated that the students freely left the room. I looked back at where Cathy and her gaggle were sitting to find that they had already left in a flurry. maybe I could catch them that night and tell them to stop their matchmaking business.

I made my way to the Ravenclaw dormitory and murmured "Bowtruckle Buttons" and the witch's painting swung open with a disapproving sigh. I pulled out my books and delved in, writing and studying with all my might for tomorrow, our potions teacher had assigned an early test. The professor said that having the test early would allow us to have a bit of fun for the last week of school before summer break. There was no need for me to study; I was already top in the class, but I loved the topic anyway and failing it would be shameful.

It was hard to study because I heard constant giggles and whispers upstairs, but I pushed the noise to the side of my mind. I needed to study.

_Powdered fire beetle's wings, Hydra saliva, Ogre mucus, Moonstone... _


	8. Cathy's Required Option

The next day flew away so fast, I needed to stop for a second to make sure I wasn't in a time spell. The Potions test was too easy, even though I noticed the student next to me nearly pulling out his hair during the writing portion, and his cauldron was disintegrating inconveniently during the kinesthetic part of the test. My potion was healthily turquoise, and the writing part was a whiz. The bell rang and next thing I knew, I was halfway through my least favorite class: Defense Against the Dark Arts. Professor Black showed us how to stun some sort of magical spider thing that breathed fire and lived under Muggle's beds. The Study of Magical Creatures was incredibly fun. Apparently, Godric Gryffindor donated the silver dragon puffle to the class and Ari Summerleaf couldn't sit still as he taught us how to feed it and come near it without being nipped at or burnt. Magical history was last and next thing I knew, I was back in the Ravenclaw dormitory, writing the essay about the recent founding of Hogwarts.

I couldn't help but think about Godric Gryffindor. His carrot colored beard was being overwhelmed by grey and silver hairs, and dark circles were forming under his eyes. The old wizard was the most powerful penguin ever in magical history, right next to Merlin and Morgana and such, and age shouldn't stop him, right?

Then I thought of Salazar Slytherin. Rumor has it that he threatened four times already to separate and start his own school. He did, once, but that was before my time, meaning they solved the issue...somewhat. All signs pointed toward his distaste, hatred, and revenge, but he kept it to himself, thankfully. As I was thinking about it, I hadn't seen him around much lately either.

I was halfway through the last sentence of my essay when I heard Cathy's voice.

"Hey, Garianna!" She chimed. I held up a flipper and kept writing. If I didn't finish my incomplete sentence, I'd be unconcentrated and frustrated during the entire conversation. Once done, I looked back at her. She had a cute smile and perfect make up on.

"Yes...?" I asked skeptically.

"Do you prefer blonde, ginger, or brunette?" She said as if taking a food order.

"What?" I was genuinely confused.

"Do you want a blonde, ginger, or brunette? I'm sure we can arrange a raven hair…" She repeated, and giggled at her own pun.

"Wait, wait, wait," I stopped her. "Do you mean a date?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"'Cause I tried to make it clear I wasn't going. Look," I sighed and looked behind her. Sure enough a few of her fellow girlfriends were eavesdropping on our one-sided conversation. "Can I talk to you alone?" She looked disappointed for a moment, then turned to her friends who got the message and left.

"Why do you want to pair me up?" I said once alone with Cathy. "I told you I'm not going."

She looked sympathetic and answered, "Well, you always looked a bit lonely. I thought that my friends and I could help you out this year's summer dance. I guess this would be repaying you for that last group project we got an 'Exceeds Expectations'."

"You wouldn't be doing me a favor. I don't have any boyfriends because I don't want one and, it's not like anyone wants me as a girlfriend. It works out fine." I retaliated.

She snickered and hummed, "Oh, you should have seen Fredric Scorpio from Gryffindor. He couldn't stop looking at you for three months our first year. You just shoved him off and he gave up hope."

"You mean when he asked if I'd come with him to sneak into the forbidden forest? _Not a chance._ He knew it was againsts the rules,"

"It was a date, and you turned him down! Anyway, this is why you need someone. You're way too snarky! You need to knock off some rough edges with another penguin."

"A book and my puffle are all I need for company. Thank you for your offer, but I will decline," I said quickly and officially, then shut my book and zipped upstairs, glad to have gotten the last word of that uncomfortable conversation. Behind me, I heard Cathy laugh it off like she knew something I didn't, but I didn't show a reaction. Some sleep was in order. Maybe that would let my words sink in for Cathy and her matchmaking friends.

But, oh, how I was wrong.


	9. Cani-dates

On the Saturday before the Summer dance, Cathy tried with all her might to get me to know Samuel K. Malfoy from Slytherin, but the set up was explosive. Turns out he was a strong believer in pure-blood wizard families, and my father was muggle. He couldn't stop shouting "Dirty, filthy mudblood!" when he found out, and Cathy nervously showed him the door, blushing of embarrassment. The librarian (still looking a bit queasy from last week) asked what was going on, but one of the girls warded her off, glad that they had the the library to test subjects.

Cathy insisted I stay but I didn't protest as much as I wanted. My original plan was to suffer through Cathy's thought out list of possibilities (she called it the candi-_date_ list) and deny every last one of them. Then she would leave me alone, thinking she hadn't tried hard enough and I wouldn't be in the blame.

The next contestant was a Hufflepuff named Daniel Neim. He was a smaller penguin who must not have been informed of this matchmaking stuff because he asked Cathy why her study group consisted only of females. I glared at him and Daniel made an effort to look everywhere but at me. Cathy's spirits fell and she subtly scratched Daniel's name off the list and insisted that he was thinking of a different Catherine at a different library. He skeptically left, getting the gist that he was set up.

She went through two more handsome, but generally unintelligent candidates before she sat down at the desk with me and professionally stated as if in a business meeting, "Okay, so those are the only possibilities that could come today. If you're willing to come back after lunch, we could try George Henderson from Gryffindor, Caleb Coulson from Slytherin, and James or Harrison Codsworth twins both of Ravenclaw."

"Maybe," I said half-heartedly, excited to get out of there.

"Awesome," she beamed, then arranged another meeting time. "We'll find you a prince charming in no time!" she smiled as they left the library. Once out of earshot, I mumbled to myself sarcastically, "Good luck on _that_."

...

Sunday evening came and Cathy found herself scribbling out stressfully the last name on her candi-_date_ list. I managed to suppress a smile of silent victory, but even my mental smile melted when I realized how seriously she took this matter.

"We went through _all_ of the candi_date_s, and not one of them fit!" Cathy's voice was breaking and I started to feel sickly guilty. "Why'd you have to act so scary towards George? He was trying to be friendly!" Frankly, I was creeped out by George's drooly stare.

"Well, I guess no one is out there for me," I hoped she would agree, but no.

"Don't give up so easily!" Cathy looked determined. "We've got until Friday to find you someone."

"Since when is there a time limit on love?"

She ignored me and continued, "I'll see if I can break up Katelyn and Evan. Evan Kooler's a nice guy when he's not around Katelyn."

Realizing how serious she was I spurted "No, no, no, no, please don't! There's no need to break up anybody for me!"

Cathy casted a sideways glance at me. "You _do_ want a date, don't you?"

"After this point, not really." I said honestly, hoping really hard she'd give up.

"I'll work on it," She concluded, throwing her flippers into the air carelessly. "Maybe I missed someone or we can retry a few. I've got some homework to do. Meet after dinner same place tomorrow?"

I gave her a fake small smile. "That'll do." She nodded.

"Bye," she sighed, then left the library.

I, like always, was done with homework, so I decided to find a new book to read. I scanned the shelves, relieved to be out of the drama focal point. While absently looking in the non fiction side, a scraggly, rough voice broke my thoughts.

"What was that all about?" The librarian asked. She had wrinkled skin, an unnaturally crooked beak, and hair like steel wool. One would mistake her for a hag, but appearances were deceiving here.

"Oh, just some silly love drama," I answered, glad to be near someone familiar. "Do you have an interesting book for me today?" I changed the topic and she smiled.

"I got a good one on Puffles," She pointed at a thick book with a dusty cover. In tinted gold letters and a curly font, it read _Observations on Puffles in the Club Penguin Island Area: Unabridged_ I pulled it out and flipped through the pages. Blocks of handwritten text were separated by thickly labelled black-and-white diagrams. Any other penguin would place this book right back on the shelf, but I kept it, as if saying "Challenge Accepted". I loved knowledge, no matter the presentation.

"Perfect," I said, picked up my things and left the library.


	10. VIP

"I'm really, really sorry, Garianna, but I can't find anyone!" Cathy sighed, obviously suffering from sleep loss. Almost all of the exams landed on today: Thursday. The teachers were smart and they knew nobody would be concentrated on Friday.

"We must not have been on our game, or maybe we didn't try everyone, or…"

"Hey, its okay," I said earnestly. "Thanks for trying."

The rest of the gaggle seemed equally as frustrated, as if facing a very unique puzzle piece and not sure where to connect it after they tried everywhere available.

"You be sure to have fun at the dance with Kaboodle," I added and Cathy smiled.

"Thanks. You and Pi shouldn't get too lonely now. Bye," She waved and sighed as if a weight had been lifted off her shoulders.

"Bye," I waved back. The lunch bell rang and off I went to The History of Magic. The test was pretty straight forward, so I was certain I got at least an 'A'. The Study of Magical Creatures was rather tough because Professor Summerleaf asked us to write an in class essay on our favorite and least favorite beast and all we knew about both. I had so many favorites that I spent most of my time deciding how to phrase it. I ended up writing speedily five pages on almost all of them and their pros and cons and why none of them were my least favorite. Professor Summerleaf looked at me funny when I asked for some sort of binding, but he almost laughed when he found out why. "You overachiever, you" he whispered playfully, winked, and took it to his desk to grade.

Defense Against the Dark Arts was second to last and Professor Black had us write down a summary in the blank under a certain Dark Art on how to fight it. I felt skeptical about how well I did, but was glad when the bell rang.

Potions was so much fun I nearly groaned when the bell rang. The teacher had us experiment using next year's book and we had access to almost all of his cabinets of supplies and test subjects. For extra credit, we would analyze the results and how we got there. I tried a sleeping potion, but my test rat seemed more paralyzed than sleepy. I peeked at Cathy and was almost appalled when I realized she was stirring up a pink soupy goo which I identified as love potion. Her friend smuggled a sample out after the bell. I tried telling the teacher, but he was far too busy cleaning up the mess the twins James' and Harrison's attempted potion made. By the looks of it, they tried making a Tummy Turner potion that exploded in the cauldron, not in the test rat's stomach. Needless to say, the test rat was far too relieved to complain about being covered in exploded, slimy green potion.

That evening, everyone in the common room was chatting profusely about the exams, their potions class, and the dance tomorrow. I wish I hadn't finished the only homework assignment today in the library because Cathy looked reinvigorated and ready for another round of matchmaking. Instead, I focused on talking with Pi about my day. He jumped up and down on the bed when he heard about my Transfiguration test where I turned a ball of twine into a puffle. The spell was really difficult, but I pulled it off with only a few pieces of twine sticking out of the blue puffle's fur. I thought I deserved less than an A, which scared me.

No matter how hard I tried, Cathy found a way to be unignorable.

"Hey, Garianna?" One of the girls in the gaggle called. I looked up, thinking it was someone else.

"Someone outside of the dormitory wants to talk to you!" she said sing-song-y. The blood in my face turned cold and I instantly felt sick. The last time someone was waiting outside of the dormitory it was a teacher who had come to inform me of my first and only detention. In my second year, I had yelled at the penguins trying to console me in class the week my mother died. Afterward, I ran to the dorm and stared up at the ceiling until someone said Professor Black was at the door. The last thing I needed then was a detention. It made sense that Professor Black would give me detention for yelling anyway because he was rumored not to have a heart.

I quickly came outside of the dorm into the common room to find someone other than Professor Black, to my relief. It was Lauren Kristov from Ravenclaw, his features reminding me of a tabby kitten; immature, cute, and fluffy in personality and looks, but he had potential to be fierce. He looked down at the ground, blushing and shifting awkwardly.

"W-will y-you go to the d-dance with me?" He stuttered quietly. I heard the gaggle behind me giggle with glee while I stood there frozen on the spot. Was this the kid they dosed with their experimental love potion? Or was he doing this in his own will, just a bit scared and waiting until the last day? Or was this a joke? I barely knew the kid. The explanation came quickly after my stunned silence.

"No, no, i-it's okay. Y-you don't have t-to say yes. M-my friends w-were g-going and I n-need-needed someone to go with t-to get in. I-I...It doesn't have t-to mean a r-real r-relationship...think of it a-as friends…" his voice trailed off. I looked down at him for a second, and my face must have made a bad impression.

"O-okay. That's f-fine...I'll…" He stammered, backing away.

"No, no, no," I said, not meaning to deny him. "Sure, I'll go...as friends and friends only."

His face lit up, not at all expecting a yes. Like most boys, he probably only wanted to because of the food, and I really didn't care.

It took a second for me to realize that I said yes. I freaked out, realizing there was no backing out now; He looked too excited.

"Oh, thank you, Garianna!" He smiled wide and ran into the boys' dorm. I turned around to see Cathy and her friends spying on the event. One of the taller girls in the group piped up, dissatisfied, "Well, well, 'Friends and friends only'? that ruined the moment," she rolled her eyes. I thought I heard one girl in the back say "I wonder how many kids they'll have!" Cathy however shoved and elbow in her side and came up to me.

"Oh, I knew someone would ask you!" she cheered, then suddenly looked horrified. "Oh, no." she gasped.

"What is it?" I asked urgently.

"You don't have anything to wear!" and she smiled at me with the biggest grin ever. Somehow, I felt accepted, like given a VIP access. I guess that's not so bad, is it?

**Author's note: Sorry for the huge unplanned hiatus in between "Dragons" and "Without a Care in The World"! It is finally summer for me and updates will be a ton more frequent. **


	11. RIP

**Author's Note: Alright. This is the chapter where things start to speed up, and also where the T rating is understandable, (it is not because of romance). Read and find out!**

Friday was hectic. Many of the girls were up really early and more than half of the school was chattering excitedly. We still had a Divination test that day (Professor Teltroth predicted the least failures on a Friday), but otherwise the classes were more of goodbyes and leads into next year's lessons. Penguins who weren't planning to go to the ball were still excited about summer break itself. Some kids would be going home to muggle families and magical families alike and a handful were planning to stay at school.

Over lunch break, Cathy and her friends dug through my wardrobe and theirs, looking for something that was nice and fits. They called it a dress disaster, but I thought an old hand-me-down dress my muggle sister used to wear was perfect.

Regardless, they were elated. The last class of the day was Transfiguration and the professor had us file through all of our completed and graded papers and tuck them away in our own folders for next year to "See how far we've come". I felt a mix of suspense, excitement, and dread all at once while the huge bell tolled three times and the echo was muffled by the mass of students filling out. I was more reluctant to leave my chair than others. I spent all night last night thinking about the dance. _It'll be fine!_ I told myself, and I sure wished I could believe without a shadow of a doubt.

I put on the midnight blue dress and had a hard time determining whether or not to bring my glasses. Sure, they were big and clunky, but the whole world was a big fuzzy mass without them on. Lauren came in and said I looked better with them on...so who was I to argue with the only reason I was going to this pointless ball in the first place?

I had never been to a dance before, so this came to me as a shock. The tall main room was decorated with the tallest shrubs I had ever seen laced with pixies of the warmest summer colors. The sun was still out and the ceiling shone an exact replica of the weather to say the room was packed.

Lauren stood relatively near me so we wouldn't get get lost or separated, but otherwise, it was like I didn't have a date at all. I started to wonder why no one was dancing when I saw all eyes on the front where Godric Gryffindor stood, tall and straight. He wore grey robed with twinkling silver stars and moon embroidered on it. With his great booming voice he welcomed us all.

"Greetings ladies and gentlepenguins! Thank you for coming to the Summer Dance! I hope you will all enjoy the decorations, thanks to Professor Bush, the herbology teacher!" he gestured towards the short teacher who looked like he'd rather be anywhere else. He forced a smile, then looked away.

"I'd like to start off by asking all participants to please…" but his voice was overlapped by a growing rumbling noise. A few heads turned this way and that, trying to find the source of the noise. Gryffindor's voice faltered as his bad hearing picked up the ever growing rumble and soon everyone heard it.

"That isn't me!" a small voice squeaked and I saw Lauren placing back a flipperful of creampuffs. A head popped through the nearest doorway and there was Professor Summerleaf. He ran over to Gryffindor and whispered urgently in his ear over the murmur of students. He nodded seriously and Professor Summerleaf stayed as Gryffindor walked with purpose through the doorway Ari came through. With a to-the-point voice, the professor said over the crowd's chatter and the rumbling, "Would everyone please file orderly back to their common rooms. Please follow the Prefects and keep your voices down. Until further notice, the Summer Dance has been cancelled." There was a collective murmur of disappointed voices, but I wasn't among them (even though I was curious what a dance was like. I guess I'll never know).

He left the room in hurry. Over the voices of disappointment, I heard the rumbling noise wasn't all rumble. Although muffled and from a distance, I could make out angry voices among that rumbling. Since there were so many people filing out, I slipped out of the crowd and sneaked to the nearest window. Outside, the sun was setting in a brilliant orange-red, but a long shadow was being cast by just one penguin standing alone: Gryffindor. He stood in front of the forbidden forest and something huge was rustling the trees and for a second I thought I saw a massively long tail. The setting sun went too far down and it was too dark to see more beyond that. Besides, a Prefect would have been happy to give me detention for not staying with the group.

I followed the Ravenclaw group to the common room and the two Prefects locked the painting behind them. Pi ran so fast into my arms I was nearly knocked over. My midnight blue dress was now covered in gold flecks that looked like stars. I gave Pi a scratch on the head and set him down and overheard one of the Prefects say "No one leaves unless given permission from a teacher or one of the headmasters, okay?"

I knew the Ravenclaw dormitory was at the wrong angle to see the forbidden forest, but I checked anyway, wanting to catch another glance of the monster. The rumbling turned into something more like hissing, but it was fainter, so I chose to ignore it. Lying down on my four poster bed, I stared up at the ceiling. Should I pack up for the summer break? Should I be prepared to go back to the dance as normal? Both?

Despite these questions, something was tugging in the back of my consciousness. _It's coming…_ A tiny, annoying voice said in the back of my head. At first I ignored it, because we all have that irksome second self whispering in our ears.

_You have to help them, or else everyone will die…_ it continued. I entertained the thought of me standing alongside Godric so he wouldn't be alone fending off a monster from the woods in the dark. It was silly after applying it to real life.

_It's not silly. Quick! Go save them! _The tiny voice urged and I began to think it wasn't my subconscious. I must be going crazy. Eerily, I thought I might as well grab my wand. I peeked inside the main room and found the fire extinguished, but most of the students there, chattering among themselves. Why follow what that tiny voice told me? I'm sure Professor Ravenclaw would come through the door any minute now saying all was well and I'd have to put away my wand in its special spot, Lauren waiting impatiently. But that was not the case.

The faint hissing grew louder very quickly, and I thought I was hallucinating when cracks appeared in the marble floor, but no one noticed. So, I ignored it until a horrible ripping noise and a scream came from the small entrance hallway. I swiveled around so fast my long hair whipped my face and I saw what used to be the painting turned into torn canvas. Slithering through the ripped hole was the largest snake I'd ever seen, its black, soulless eyes the size of dinner plates and fangs longer than swords. It slipped inside the common room and screams of terror waved over the room as students ran to the back or upstairs fleeing like a flock of startled birds. To my horror, it snapped at one of the nearest girls with its fangs,(and I don't know if it succeeded,) and coiled itself around another two who disappeared under a pile of spine and scales. I, however, stood my ground and raised my wand with a rush of anger and confidence like I never felt before. A Prefect behind me yelled "Get away from there, kid!" but he was drowned out by the panicked noise.

I concentrated hard and to my satisfaction, the massive snake yelped and drew back, one of its eyes was bleeding and oozing black blood. It hissed, enraged, then drew itself taller and unfurled a hood with two diamond shapes on them bigger than my own cloak. One of the students engulfed freed himself from the scaly grip and made a run for it. The horrible serpent opened its jaw and revealed a set of razor sharp teeth that reminded me of the daggers Salazar Slytherin always carried with him. The serpent lunged at the running student, but I was expecting this.

Instinct took over and I flicked my wand. Like an invisible fist punched it, the snake flew aside, but recoiled. The penguin scurried out of the way towards the back of the room. By now, the snake's blood was everywhere, and its eye refused to clot. Most of the fearful students found a way upstairs, but a few boys were trapped, cowering in the back, unsure of where to go or what to do.

The snake hissed and pulled itself all the way inside the Ravenclaw dorm. I imagined the snake as if it were dead, lying on its belly, the forked tongue flopping onto the floor in a preposterous manner. That's when the most unexpected thing happened. The serpent stopped hissing and rather gagged as if something was stuck in its wily throat. Its scales cracked as if dehydrated beyond belief, and slowly, the serpent fell to the floor writhing and tying itself into a knot, wallowing in its own blood. It slowed and started twitching, and, eventually, it stopped moving altogether, its tongue hanging out just like I pictured it. Silence followed.

It was so quiet, I could hear a first year in the back of the room hyperventilating. No one dared to move. My feet were drenched in blood, and the cuff of my starry dress was wet, too. I lowered my wand, convinced it was dead, and turned around slowly. Both the Prefect boy and Prefect girl were in the back of the room along with another few students. They subtly recoiled when I faced them.

"W-w-what…?" the Prefect girl started, but she was cut of by distant and urgent voices. Ari Summerleaf was right outside of the dorm when he saw the snake's body.

"What happened? Is everyone alright?" He called as he peered through the hole.

Shakily, the Prefect boy replied "I-I d-don't know." Ari Summerleaf climbed inside through the rip in the canvass, followed by another teacher I didn't recognize, who rushed immediately over to the bitten student. The girl seemed alive, but was turning paler and more sickly by the minute. Summerleaf saw me first, and I must have looked scary all drenched in blood.

"are you alright?... Is it dead?" He asked the obvious. I nodded my head slowly and stepped back. "What happened?" he asked again.

"Garianna, she-she… killed it without s-saying a word!" The Prefect girl answered for me. "She used the d-death spell!"

Professor Summerleaf looked down at me with a very solemn look. "Did you?" He glanced back at the dead snake.

"I-I...I don't know…" I stammered. I didn't realize I hadn't said anything while attacking the snake. Suddenly, I remembered.

"There's someone in there!" I yelled, and pointed to the bloody pile of scales. I ran towards it against Summerleaf's order. I flicked my wand and the snake's heavy body flew aside to reveal the trapped student. He was covered in snake's blood and his own, obviously crushed and positioned brokenly. I searched for a pulse, but there was no need; I could already sense the life was squeezed out of him.

"Who is it?" A Prefect asked sheepishly. Despite the blood, I recognized that cute kitty-like face, limp, never to smile again.

"It's Lauren…" I croaked.

**Author's note: Quite the twist, isn't it? I'm still working on the next chapter because it is vital to the next step in the story. It might take a while to update, give or take four days. Hope you like it so far! **Lastly, don't be shy! Please review. I'm not against OC requests, though I'm not seeking them out particularly, and constructive criticism is very welcome. ****


	12. Throw it All Away

They told me to go to the headmaster. They looked at me like I was a problem, l... I don't know. I left the school grounds before anyone would ask where I was going or realized I wasn't supposed to leave. Pi followed, curious why I was in a hurry.

Serenity was all I wanted then. Being in the wilderness all alone would cure me of the stress, and the untamed creatures would welcome me. I didn't care.

That's when I had an idea. the Club Penguin island and the island Hogwarts rested on weren't the only ones out there. If they were looking for me, I could be on an entirely different set of land. I know they'd look for me at my father's place, but then they'd find only an angry muggle who wants nothing to do with magic of any sorts.

Before I knew it, my puffle and I set sail on a makeshift raft, and I heard shouts from a distance. I ignored them, knowing they were looking for me and have by now realized Professor Evergreen's mistake.

The little island of Hogwarts slowly turned into a tiny speck of land then slipped behind an infinite floor of water in all directions. Pi nibbled at my cloak, bored out of his mind, and I began questioning my plan. What if there weren't any islands out here at all?

Even though the heat of the day was waning, the sun bared down on us hard. I was questioning my judgement when something appeared on the horizon. We both nearly jumped for joy. The rocky cove looked ominous from a distance, but became friendlier the closer we got when I saw trees and a possible forest in the back.

I landed us and quietly walked up and down the sandy shore, confirming it was just us. I felt an odd mix of excitement, but something else. Was that guilt? I had to face the school eventually and I might be expelled for running away. Or maybe they were afraid of me.

I never knew casting spells without saying a word was uncommon. I'd imagine it would be dangerous, though. I simply thought about the snake being dead and poof! It was dead. What would have happened if I did that to a student and not really meant it? Apparently, that only happened when I was holding my wand, but that wasn't much of a strong safeguard.

"This place looks great. Let's go see the woods. We might find a good spot and set up camp," I told Pi and he jumped up, leaving a lobster on the shore he was previously investigating.

_No_, I heard a voice suddenly come from nowhere. I jumped back in surprise, and my heart nearly skipped into my throat, but Pi appeared not to have heard it.

The voice spoke again, this time sounding sweeter and dribbled like honey. _You don't want to set up camp._ At that moment, the thoughts of being expelled and the guilt and all the worries in general seemed not to matter anymore. I felt eerily happy.

_You just want a nap. Lie down and sleep._ the voice hummed. I did feel tired. I saw a little patch of grass at the base of a tree on the rim of the forest and it looked like the most comfortable thing in the world. Groggily, I obeyed. I snuggled up, and Pi followed, bewildered.

_Sleep, child,_ the voice said, and I didn't disagree. my eyelid felt heavy. Pi suddenly looked just as tired and yawned hugely.

Just for a second, I thought I heard a different, tiny voice yelp _No! Why should you..._, but it faded away.

**Author's note: Yay! New chapter (_Finally_)! **

**I'm starting to wonder if anyone is actually reading this. I dunno, I've got a lot of the story already written, but there is no point in posting it if no one wants to read it.**


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